


Everything, everything happens for a reason.

by AndromedaKhelby



Category: Beetlejuice - All Media Types
Genre: Angst, Epilogue of sorts, Grief, Healthy Relationships, Sadness, delia and lydia have a really nice maternal figure-daughter relationship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-10
Updated: 2020-02-10
Packaged: 2021-02-27 23:02:00
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,990
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22643800
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AndromedaKhelby/pseuds/AndromedaKhelby
Summary: Lydia has a dance, and a date. Delia helps her out. They talk about lots of things. Sadness and Happiness ensues. I'm bad at summaries.
Relationships: Beetlejuice & Delia Deetz, Beetlejuice & Lydia Deetz, Delia Deetz & Lydia Deetz, lydia deetz & emily deetz
Comments: 5
Kudos: 51





	Everything, everything happens for a reason.

"Hey.... Dad?" 

Charles looked up from the paperwork on his desk to see his daughter standing in the doorway, looking paler than usual.

"Lydia! How was school? Did your teacher like your art project?"

In the aftermath of the events in the netherworld, Charles and Lydia had been going to a therapist. The therapist recommended that Lydia take up art therapy in order to express yourself, and despite her initial protest, Lydia had grown to love it. Charles was glad to see her expressing her emotions, even if he couldn't understand what most of her art was supposed to represent.

Lydia nodded her head excitedly. "Yeah. She loved it. She wants me to be in the student showcase this spring."

Charles smiled. " Wonderful. Is that all?"

"Actually.... No. It's not. I need some money. For a.... thing." 

Charles, assuming it was for art supplies, opened his wallet and handed her a twenty dollar bill. Lydia left the room, but he could sense something was wrong.

"Really? Only twenty bucks? Ten inch heels alone cost three times that much! Why didn't you just tell him what it was for?" The green haired demon paced around Lydia's room, as she laid down on her bed.

"Beetlejuice, I'm not wearing ten inch heels."

"Not with that attitude you're not!"

"Whatever, I mean how am I supposed to approach my dad about having a date to the prom? He'd make a huge deal out of it! No. I gotta get the money somewhere else."

"We could rob a bank."

"We are not robbing a bank."

" You could sell your organs! I'd offer to sell mine, but my blood is basically vinegar at this point. There ain't much worth selling here."

"Sometimes I wonder if you're still trying to kill me."

There was a knock on Lydia's bedroom door. Lydia sat up on her bed. "Come on in." Delia opened the door, with a bag in her hand. She sat down next to Lydia and handed her a package. 

"So. I was at the crystal shop today, because the aura of the house needed some fine-tuning, and I got you a present. Go on. Open it!"

Lydia ripped open the package to find an obsidian pendant inside, with crystals attached to the chain.

"Now, I know you don't really believe in the idea of energy therapy, but I want you to know what it means. Black obsidian is a healing stone. It's supposed to protect you from those who would wish you harm. As my guru Oth- Kevin once said, 'The great thing about rocks is that they're spiritual AND physical weapons'. You know, you just gotta-" Delia put the stone in her fist and made a motion of punching someone in the mouth. She then turned to Lydia, smiling like a child. "Do you like it?"

It was the first gift Delia had gotten for her new step-daughter since the whole 'Netherworld' incident. Ever since then, Delia had been trying to have a better relationship with Lydia, but it wasn't easy. It's not like Delia was stupid, she knew she couldn't replace her birth mother, and she didn't want to, but she still wanted Lydia to know that she cared about her. In a way, she was envious of Barbara. She could talk to Lydia so much easier than Delia could. But in the end, Delia would rather Lydia see someone else as a mother figure rather than not have one. Besides, she liked Barbara, even if she was a little uptight.

"I love it. Will you put it on me?"

Delia squealed with happiness. "Yes! Yes! Of course!"

Lydia stared at herself in her bedside mirror, and smiled. She never thought Delia would get her something this cool. It's not that she didn't like Delia, it just seemed... tough to talk to her sometimes. She had only known Delia for a few months before her father suddenly announced they were getting married, and she lashed out at Delia because of it. She had told her therapist that she wanted a better relationship with Delia, but she just didn't know how. Maybe....

"Hey. Delia, can I ask you for a favor?"

"Yes! Anything! Not drugs, but anything else!"

Beetlejuice, who they had forgotten was still in the room rolled his eyes. "If she wanted drugs, she'd be asking me, Delia." Lydia rolled her eyes, and picked up the broom in the corner of her room. She began to poke Beetlejuice with it, pushing him out of the room like a racoon. 

"Git! Git! Git on out of here! Go hang out with Barbara and Adam!"

"Ow! Ow! Jesus, fine!"

Delia turned back to face Lydia.

"So what did you want to ask me?"

"Well..... You know about prom right?"

"Yeah! Yeah, I know all about prom! Why? Are you gonna destroy a prom in the name of nonconformity?"

"No... Not this year. I actually.... Oh god... I have a date."

The resulting squeal that came from Delia was at a frequency only dogs (And Beetlejuice) could hear.

"TELL. ME. EVERYTHING. Is he cute? Is he nice to you? He better be nice to you. What does he do for fun? Did he ask you, or did you ask him? Or is it a girl? Because I'm not upset if it's a girl, I support whatever you choose do with your life, and I- OMIGOD you need a dress! Let's go get Charles!" Delia shot up from the bed and started to head for the door.

"Wait! Delia. " Lydia grabbed her arm. "I don't know how Dad is gonna react. I don't want to give him too much to deal with, y'know? Could we just keep this between us?"

"Yeah. Yes. Of course. But you need a dress. And shoes, and makeup, unless you don't want to wear makeup, because you're already so beautiful, not that your worth is only determined by your beauty, but.... Would you like me to take you shopping? I know you say malls are like the tenth circle of hell, but they can be fun..."

For once, Lydia was actually excited at the prospect of spending her day in a temple to the unethicality of capitalism. She needed a dress. And her therapist did give her homework- to work on her relationship with Delia.

"Yeah! I'd like that. When can we go?"

"Right now! I'll go steal your father's credit card."

The ride to the mall was anything but quiet. Lydia didn't say much, but Delia, who hated long silences, spent the whole ride talking about her latest entry into becoming a master in bee yoga. It was like regular yoga, but you covered your face and yoga mat in honey. To Lydia, it just seemed like a waste of good honey. But she didn't say that. 

They got to the mall, and Delia pulled her into the dress shop. There were hundreds of dresses, in every color, with blinding glitter. 

"What color would you like? Personally, I think you'd look wonderful in purple. But purple looks good on everyone."

"Sure... I'll try it."

Delia grabbed half a dozen purple dresses off the rack, and dropped them into Lydia's arms. They headed towards the dressing room, and began trying on the dresses. The first one was far too bright for Lydia. The second one had a hideously lumpy skirt. The third one had a neckline that went down to her navel. The fourth one went up to her chin. The fifth one was somehow both too big and too small. And the last one was just gross.

They tried on twenty different dresses, but Lydia didn't like any of them. Delia saw that Lydia was starting to withdraw into herself. This wasn't good. This wasn't good at all.

"Lydia? How about we head somewhere else?"

"Like where?"

"Where do you want to go?"

The store Lydia had led her to was bizarre to say the least. Loud rock music filled the store, which was covered wall to wall in black gothic clothing. Lydia ran around the room excitedly, in a way that Delia had never seen before. After searching for about a half an hour, Lydia found a dress she liked, and eagerly showed it off to Delia.

"Do you like it?"

Delia smiled. 

"I love it. You look beautiful."

As Delia purchased the dress, she noticed Lydia eyeing the nail polish near the checkout. "You wanna paint your nails?" Delia asked. "You can get some if you want."

Lydia turned to Delia, with a slightly embarrassed look on her face. "Well, I was thinking of doing something with my nails, but I can't paint them myself. Would you do it?"  
Delia ran forward, and embraced Lydia in a bear hug. "Nothing would make me happier."

When they got home, they set themselves up in Lydia's bedroom. The color Lydia had chosen was a deep eggplant purple, which was a little bit out of her comfort zone, but she still liked it a lot. Lydia made an attempt at a conversation.

"So. How did you get into all this spiritual stuff?"

"Well... It's kind of a long story." Delia took a deep breath. "I had this aunt, when I was really young. I idolized her. She was this flower child hippie, who spent her life traveling around the world. And she would always bring me back crystals from her trips. My parents thought she had no direction, but she seemed happier than either of them, so what did they know? I told her everything, things that I didn't even tell my parents. I wasn't that smart as a kid, not nearly as smart as you, and my parents constantly pushed me harder and harder. But she never did. She even promised me that one day, she'd take me on a trip with her. Wherever I wanted to go."

Lydia noticed Delia starting to trail off. 

"Did something happen to her? No, I'm sorry I shouldn't have asked that, I-"

"No. It's okay, I was getting there anyway. She crashed her car coming from the airport. I was devastated. My parents, in a way, were like your dad. They just wanted me to keep moving forward, and forget anything ever happened. And I tried, but freshman year of college, I just.... collapsed."

Delia paused to wipe away a tear.

"I know a lot of the stuff I do doesn't make a lot of sense. But the spirituality stuff helped me get through a really tough time. And sometimes, I feel like when I do my meditation, or my crystal therapy, my aunt's still here with me."

Lydia looked up at Delia, feeling some regret for how she mocked her practices in the past. Then, with a flourish, Delia finished painting Lydia's final fingernail.

"There. All done."

Lydia smiled at her nails, and then up at Delia. "Thanks. I mean it."

"Of course. Anytime."

Lydia stood up to hug Delia, and said, "I had a lot of fun today."

"Me too. I'm so glad to see you happy."

Lydia smiled. " I haven't done anything like this since my mom died." She put her face in her hands, and started to cry, as Delia pulled her into a hug.

"Do you think she's proud of me?"

"I know she's proud of you. Look at you. You're a smart, talented, strong, beautiful young woman. We're all very proud of you. Especially her."

Delia wiped away one of Lydia's tears, and continued. "I know I can't replace your mother. I don't want to. I'm not going to ask you to call me 'mom', or forget about everything. But... I want you to know that I care about you. And whatever you need... I'm here."

Delia held Lydia as she cried into her shoulder. It would take awhile for them to truly become family. But this was a step- a big step in the right direction.


End file.
